Diana (14 page)

On the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat: “He was just such a special man when he came to see us, and it was so sad because he was doing wonderful things in his country, and one minute he was there, the next minute he wasn’t.”

Her hairdresser, Richard Dalton, remembers the time Diana and Charles were on the royal barge going down a canal in Venice, when she spotted a can of hairspray floating nearby. “Oh my God, Richard’s fallen in,” she said.

During her meetings with her dress designers, David and Elizabeth Emanual, prior to her Gulf tour in November 1986, she explained: “It’s a difficult
one, this tour, because I have to hide my elbows, and have three-quarters-length hemlines. I think we might avoid the spots too! This tour is ten days to two weeks and we might be changing two or three times a day; it’s a bit testing on the wardrobe. But I don’t have to wear too many hats, so that’s a relief.”

On the new prime minister, Tony Blair: “I think at last I will have someone who will know how to
use
me. He’s told me he wants me to go on some missions…. I’d really, really like to go to China. I’m very good at sorting people’s heads out.”

On America

On Bill Clinton: “I find him rather dishy, and he
is
very tall.”

“When I was in Washington visiting the Reagans, whatever wasn’t tied down they asked me to sign. I know Americans like you to sign things.”

Her love of America and Americans was palpable. “When all the Americans come in July for Wimbledon, you can feel the energy go up. It all collapses again when they leave. Well, perhaps Tony Blair will change all that.”

On speechmaking

At her first solo public appearance, to light the Christmas lights on Regent Street in 1981, she said simply, “I’m delighted to have this opportunity to make a small contribution to the Christmas spirit in London. I know these lights give a great deal of pleasure to countless people.”

As she began to grow accustomed to public speaking, there were hurdles. “I just hate the sound of
my own voice. I can’t bear it. When I launched that new liner last week, I just couldn’t believe it when I heard myself afterward. It just didn’t sound like me.”

“I just take out all the unnecessary words, flowery words—like wonderful and brilliant.”

On celebrities

“It has been the greatest fun meeting a lot of the [rock and pop] groups. I like some pop music, but not all of it.”

When John Travolta asked her to dance at the Reagan White House, Diana replied instantly, “I’d absolutely love to.”

While dancing with Diana later that night, Clint Eastwood jokingly told her she was too old for him. She replied, “But I’m only twenty-four!”

She told singer Meat Loaf that she’d attended a few of his London concerts. When he wondered why nobody told him, she said, “Well, we have ways of getting in.”

“We had a poster of the [dancers as] swans,” said English National Ballet executive Richard Shaw, “and [Diana] said, ‘Retake it with me in the middle. That will get you all the press you need.’”